How to play Crossroads — a free co-op word and picture grid game
Two pictures, one word. Fill the board together.
- Players
- 2–8
- Length
- ~10 min
- Type
- Co-op
- Price
- Free
Crossroads is played on a grid of squares. A picture card sits at the top of every column and at the start of every row: a lighthouse, a jar of honey, an astronaut. Each square is where one row picture meets one column picture.
Each round you secretly get one square, say B3, and write a single word that connects its two pictures. If B is a bee and 3 is a gold coin, you might write "honey". Then everyone else tries to put your word on the right square. You all win or lose together, so the aim is to fill as much of the board as you can. If you've played Cross Clues, you already know how it works.
One team, one score: the whole room wins together, and the finale celebrates what you pulled off as a group — no podium, no loser.
Free, no app and no sign-up to join — players hop in with a 4-letter code on their own phone.
How to play Crossroads
The host picks a board
The standard board is 4×4: eight pictures and 16 squares. The 5×5 board has ten pictures and 25 squares, and takes longer.
Everyone gets a square
Your square shows up on your own screen, with its row and column pictures lit up. Nobody else can see which square you have.
Write one word
Type a single word that links your two pictures. It can't be either picture's name, and it can't be a word built from one, so no "bees" or "beehive" for a bee.
Place everyone else's words
All the words go up at once, without their squares. Pick a word, then tap the square you think it belongs to. Do that for every word except your own, then lock in.
The room decides
Each word goes on the square most players picked. If it's the right one, that square is filled for the team. If it's wrong, the real square is crossed off for good.
Keep going until the board is done
Everyone gets a new square each round from the ones that are left, until every square is either filled or crossed off.
What Crossroads looks like
How scoring works
There's one score, and it belongs to the whole team: how many squares you filled out of the total.
A wrong guess costs a square. A word that nobody placed, or a player who ran out of time, costs nothing. That square goes back in the deck for a later round.
If the vote on a word is tied, the square that someone picked first wins.
At the end your team gets a rating, from Tourists, through Day trippers, Wayfinders and Navigators, up to Cartographers for a full board. Filling at least half the board counts as a win for everyone.
Tips for winning Crossroads
- Look at the whole board before you write. A word that fits your two pictures might fit another square even better. Pick one that only fits yours.
- Think about what the two pictures have in common, not just one of them. "Sweet" might fit honey, but it also fits a cupcake two rows down.
- When you place a word, look at both pictures, the row and the column. The right square is the one where both make sense.
- Your own square is off limits. You already know nobody else has it, which makes the rest a little easier.
Frequently asked questions
How many players do you need for Crossroads?
Two to eight. With two players, you place each other's words. With more, each word goes where the majority puts it.
Is Crossroads the same as Cross Clues?
It plays the same way: a grid of pictures, a secret square, a one-word clue. The difference is that everyone plays at the same time instead of one at a time. The pictures are our own illustrations, and you play in a browser.
Can there be more players than squares left?
Yes, near the end of a game. When that happens, some players don't get a square that round. They still help place everyone else's words.
Can I play with Blips?
Yes. Blips are the site's bot players and they can fill seats. They write simple words that fit both pictures and make reasonable guesses. They're there to make up numbers, not to carry the team.
How long does a game take?
About ten minutes on the 4×4 board with four players. More players fill the board faster.
Is it free?
Yes. It's free to play and free to host, and you don't need an account to join a room.
Free, no app and no sign-up to join — players hop in with a 4-letter code on their own phone.